Spill cam now Web sensation

Saturday

May 29, 2010 at 12:01 AMMay 29, 2010 at 7:00 AM

ROBERT, La. (AP) — The hypnotic video of mud, gas and oil billowing from the seafloor has become an Internet sensation as Americans watch to see whether BP’s effort to plug the gusher in the Gulf of Mexico succeeds.

BP warned yesterday that it could be tomorrow or later before the outcome of the cliffhanger becomes clear. And scientists cautioned that few conclusions can be drawn with any certainty from watching the spillcam coverage of the “top kill.” But they said the video seemed to suggest BP was gaining ground.

In an operation that began Wednesday, BP has been pumping heavy drilling mud into the blown-out well in hopes of choking it off and putting an end to what is the biggest oil spill in U.S. history.

BP chief operating officer Doug Suttles said yesterday the top kill was going basically as planned, though the pumping has stopped several times.

“The fact that it’s stopped and started is not unusual,” Suttles said. “We’re going to stay at this as long as we need to.”

He said the company has also shot in assorted junk, including metal pieces and rubber balls, which seemed to be helping to counter pressure from the well.

BP, under pressure from Congress, made available a live video feed of what is going on underwater, and about 3,000 websites were showing a version of it that the PBS “Newshour” offered for free.

Watching the video could offer clues to who is winning in the battle — BP or the oil — said Tony Wood, director of the National Spill Control School at Texas A&M University in Corpus Christi.

If the stuff coming out of the pipe is black, it is mostly oil and BP is losing. If it is whitish, it is mostly gas and BP is also losing. If it is muddy brown, as it was yesterday, that may be a sign that BP is starting to achieve success, he said.